Latch for screen doors and the like



Dec. 18, 1945., H. BLOSS LATCH FOR SCREEN DOORS AND THE LIKE 2Shets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 16, 1943 'Dec. 18, 1945. H.,B| oss' LATCH FORSCREEN DOORS AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 16, 1945 2 Sheets-rSheet 2 of theother hand.

Patented Dec. 18, 1945 Herman Bloss, Shelton, cibmil;

assignhli to 11.. B.;1ves Comnany, 'New Haven, Conn a cor- I Thisinvention relates to door-latches and more particularly to a latch to beemployed upon light doors snch as screen doors or the-like, although itwill be understood that the latchmechanism shown herein is applicablefor use with othertypes of doors if desired- In the manufacture oflatches for screen-doors and the like, it is desirable that the latch besimply constructed and be composed of parts which may be economicallymade, such as'by stamping'operations for example. It is necessary,however, that the latch be capable of the usual functions, and that themechanism lee-provided with means for dogging 'thel'atch against beingoperated from the outside of the door to prevent unauthorizedentrance.It is also a very-desirable feature of such latches that they be made"for use upon either right or left handdoors so that it will beunnecessary to make one latch for a door-oi one handand another latch:or a latch having other specially-made elements for a door The 'aboveadvantages are present in the lock of this application in that the parts.may :be

cheaply and economically-made. Also,-the'lath may be employed uponeither right orileft hand doors, as desired, without the nse oi""any--additional or :specially made parts,-and the latch may bedogg'e'clag'ainst movement from the outsideof the door-by a retation oithe inner handle in a direction reverseto that-employed to move thelatch. Moreover, the mechanism is so arranged that the inner handlenormally "stands in a horizontal position an"cl-Whenthe handle is movedto a position to dog the latch against 1 movementit stands in a verticalposition.

the user of the latch is always able to tell 'ata glance whether thelatch bolt isdogg'ed or free, in thatfthe position of the handle is atonce an indication of the condition of the parts. I his arises from thefact that the handleis permitted a rotation of substantially 90 from=its'normal position to its dogging position as well as from the factthat the'handle stands in-an uprig htor vertical position when the latchis dogged. v One object of the invention is to providea new and improvedlatch for screen or other doors of light weight.

.A still further object offthe invention is to provide a new andimprovedlatch mechanismffor' screen doors or the like which may be made1")0rati0nof Connecticut 9 I v I in I, J pplication Qctoher 16, 1943,Serial No. 506,541 .13 Glaims. loizaz -amy provide aalatoh mechanism forsscreen ;,doors ;s;or the :like which may lhezused with :a doorlots-either hand-without. .thenemployment .of any different:orspecially-nnadesparts. 1

.A .still further iobiect :of the invention is to providea latch:mechan'ismgsior screendoprs or the. :like, .:so :arrangedthat..-,athelatch may: .be dogged against movement by ;-a ,reverse :rotation of-.zthe :inside handlegthe position of the handle, 'whenesorotatedflbeingsuch that .an indication or signalrwill :he pgivenzto. the:user that the latch .zis-dogged againstimovement.

lTo-thesejand other ends the invention relates to.v the movelieaturesand:oombinations of parts to be hereinafter described,.,and .claimed.

In the.accompanyingdrawings: 1, 7 Fig. l lis -la sectionalsviewof alatchmechanism embodyin :my invention -mounted upon a. :door

Fig.i2 is -a..sectional view on. iline 22-12 ofil lyshowingthe interiorconstruction; i

Fig. '3 is a sectional =view :on line l33-o'f 1 "ig.

Fig.-.-4 isa=sectioneilwiewon --line oi' 'Fig. .3.showing the operationof the rollback operated bythe outside handlew 1 Fig. 5-is a Viewsimilar to Fig. 4 with-the inner cover plate of the latch casing removedto show the interior construction; 1

=-Fig.-6 is aqiew-similar to Fig. 5 'but showing the inside latchoperating mechanism or inside rollbackin another position; i

Fig". 7' is a fIOIXVViEW-UT the latch mechanism t th i sid f the dqor a.

Fig. "8 is an inside -e1evational view of the escutcheon and associatedparts at the outside oi thedoor; I s

Fig. 9 is a view similar to -Fig. 2, showing the application ;ofthelatch mechanism to a door 0 of the oppiosite hand;and

cheaply and economically, and which will :be-cap able of performing allthe functions desired in a latch mechanism of this type.

A still further object of the invention is to Fig (10 =is-a View similar--to Fig. 4, showing the he the position occupied when applied to a-dooroithe'otherhand. I x I :fIfo illustrate a preferred embodiment of myinvention; I -hay shown; in the drawings a -door 10, st; has -a sc reen'door, for example, hinged at, d l -and adapted to close against a stop-12 mounted 'Qnjthe door jamb 1 3.- -Upon-fthe=stop 12 is mounted astrike mechanism provided with keepers l4 and it, which l eegiersare-adapted-=to cooperate with-thelatch as hereinafterdescribed, to holdthe door in closed position.- It will be understood that only one-ofthelkeepers acbut that the two keepers are provided in order "that thesame strike mechanism -may be used surrounds the hub 35.

with either right or left hand doors. As shown in Figs. 2 and 9, whenthe mechanism is mounted on the doors of opposit hands, the strikemechanism will be reversed. In each case the latch will cooperate withthe lower one of the two keepers, this being the keeper 4 in Fig. 2 andthe keeper |5 in Fig. 9.

The latch mechanism is mounted at the inside of the door and enclosedwithin the case l1, secured to the door by screws |8 passing throughopenings l9 in the case. Secured within the case, within spaced relationto the outer wall thereof, is a partition plate 20, Whichplate isspacedfrom the outside of the case by the displacement of the wall of thelatter about the openings |9, so that certain parts of the mechanism maybe mounted between the plate and the outer wall of the case. a

A stud 22 is secured to this plate adjacent one edge thereof and a latchmember 23'is pivoted upon this stud.. This member, as shown moreparticularly in;Figs.. 5 and ,6, has a relatively large opening 24in thebod thereof, through which projects the hub .of theinner handle, as willbe hereinafter described, and a projecting endportion 25 adapted tocooperate with one of the keepers. As shown in Fig. 1 at 26, this endportion is displaced inwardly from the body 23 opposite direction ortoward theinside of the door. lugs constitute the means by which theinner and As will behereinafter explained, these outer handles "operatethe latch member and they are symmetricallyarranged with respect to thelongitudinal axis of the latch member so that one of each of theseglugsisin operation when the latch is used with a door of onehand and theother of each ot these'lugs is in opera- 1 tion when the latch is usedwith a door of the other hand.

The latch member is alsoiprovided with a stud projected toward theoutside of the door,

which stud projects through a slot 3| in a cover plate 32 serving as'theinner cover of the case H. It will be understood that this cover holdsthe latch member in place and the movement of the latch member islimited by the travel of the stud 30 in the slot 3|. The plate 32 isalso provided with openings 33 which permit the projection therethroughof the lugs 28.

Rotatably mounted in the outer portion of case n is the hub 35 of theinner handle as, the hub being held in place by a spring ring 31 mountedin an annular groove in the hub 35 and engaging against the flange 38formed on the case which Mounted on an inner reduced end 39 of this huband held in place by the split ring 40 is alatch actuating member orrollback 4| so that the rollback is rotated by rotation of the handle 36about the axis of the hub 35, and, it maybe noted, eccentric tothe pivot22 of the latch member.

As shown in Fig. 3, this rollback lies substantially in the plane of theplate 29 and is provided with symmetrically arranged shoulders 43adapted to engage one or the other of the lugs 29 to operate the latch.It is also provided with an arcuate edge portion 44 generally concentricwith the axis of the hub 35 to engage one or the other of the lugs 29and dog the latch against movement, as will be hereinafter more fullyexplalned.

It will be apparent that, as shown in Fig. 5, for example, when therollback is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction it will engage theupper of the lugs 29 and thus move the latch member 23 in acounter-clockwise direction about its pivot 22, thus raising the latchmember until its projecting end 25 disengages the keeper l4, As therollback 4| and latch 23 move about different axes, the lug 29 will rideupwardly on the shoulder 43 and ordinarily would be moved out ofengagement with this shoulder. It is therefore desirable to limit therotation of the rollback in a direction to operate the latch so that thelug 29 will not be moved beyond the edge of the shoulder 43.

For this purpose, the rollback is provided with a lug 46 projectinginwardly, which lug is adapted to be engaged by the hooked ends 41 and48 of an .escapement member 49 freely pivoted at 50 between the'outsideof the case and the plate 29. Thus, as shown in Fig. 2, when therollback 4| is rotated in a clockwise direction, the lug 46 will beengaged by the hooked end 41 of the escapement member 49 and will beprevented from further rotation. When, however, the rollback 4| isrotated in a counter-clockwise direction as the parts are shown in Fig.2, the lug 46 will pass freely above the hooked end of the escapement49. v

In order that the rollback 4| and the inside handle 36 to which it issecured be normally restrained in the position shown in Fig. 2 in whichthe handle projects in a horizontal directionand the latch member isengaged with the keeper l4, the roll-back 4| is provided with aprojecting lug 52 carrying a stud 53 engaged by i the ends of springs 54and 55 mounted upon studs '56 and 56 in the case. These springs are also;'provided, respectively, with bent portions 5l and the position showninFig. 6 so that the inner handle will alsobe releasably held in thesepositions. In orderthat the latch mechanism may be operated attheoutside of the door, an outside handle 69 is rotatably mounted in anescutcheon 6| secured to the door by screws 53, which handle is providedwith a square opening 64 to receive a similarly shaped spindle 65 whichextends through the door and has its other end loosely and rotatablyreceived in the hub: 35. Mounted on this spindle, adjacent the innercover 32 of the latch mechanism, is an outside rollback 66 of theformshown in Fig, 4, this rollback having anarm 61 engaged below the stud 39on the latch member 23 and also having a. cam shaped end 68 engaging oneor the other of the lugs 29. It will be seen, therefore, that the latchmay be lifted or disengaged from the keeper by operation of the outsidehandle in either direction. If, for example, the-outside handle is movedin a counter-clockwise direction, as the parts are shown in Fig. 4, theend. of the rollback 66 will engage the stud 3 0 and serve to lift thelatch, while, if the outside handle and spindle 65 are rotated in aclockwise direction, the upper surface of the cam shaped portion 68 willengage thelug 28 and also serve to lift the latch or rotate it in acounter-clockwise direction out of engagement with the keeper I4. I r

tment member 119 so that the rotation of the moll- In order to normallymaintain the outside "handle 111.3. horizontal position in :alignmentwith the inside handle, the hub (ill of the outside .handlehassecuredtheretowithin the .escutcheon .Gzl .a;..plate J0, andsprings .H and 12:are secured at one .of their ends .to the .plate 1.0 and at the otherof their ends .toztheescutcheont I. Thusit will-be, seen that rotationof the handled-n either direction extends :one or the other-ofthesesprings and the parts :ofthe latch when the door is in thispositionare shown-in Figs. .1 to 5. The 1 door,

es' previously stated, may be readily opened from the outside by turningthe handle 60 in either "direction and as shown-in the rollback 65will-engage with the stud- 30 on the latch member when the handle isrotatedin-onedirection-and will engage with the upper "lug 2S onthelatch when the handle is rotated in the other y direction.

' This will raise the latch out-ofengagement with the keeper l4,rotating itabout the pivot 22. The movement of the lateh will'be limitedby the "length of the slot 31 inplate 32 shown in- Fig.4.

' "lEfitis desired to open thedoo'r from the inside, thednside handleis-rotated -loyturning it away from the observer asshown in Fig. l or ina counterclockwise direction asshown Fig. 5.

This rotates the rollback '41 in a'clockwise direction, shown in Fig-.-2,or in a counter-clockwise direction shown in :Fig-.- 5, as the viewsof- -Figs.- -2 -and---- are looking in opposite directions. During thismovement of the rollback, the shoulder 43 engages the upper of- -t-helugs 29 --shown inthese figureeand' serves tolift-*the'latchoutofengagement withthe keeper l d-byrotating it aboutthe pivot 22. As heretofore stated, the rollback-M and latch member 23are eccentrically pivoted and therefore continuousmovement of the"rollback would pushth lugi9-beyond theend of the surface t3 *iftherol1back--wererotated through a suiiicient angle. To prevent thisoccurrence, therotat'ion of the rollback-is limited in this direction-byengagement ofthe log 46 with the hooked end-4 7 of theescapement'member' w'so that whilethelatch is-raised'to asufficient'extent to clear the keeper M- when the handleis released, "the handlewill-be returned to its original 'posit'ion by engagement of the spring55'with'the stud-53-and the latch-Will again drop "back to the positionshown.- It will be understood that" the" end of the latchis camshaped-so that the latch'w-illride over the keeper when moved toclosedposition.

If his desiredto dogthe latch against operation by 'the outside handle,the inside handle is 'rota't'ed'in a, direction opposite to'that'justdescribed; from the position shown 'in Fig's. =1 and 5 to the positionshownin'Fig. 6, inwhich position it is vertically disposed,This'rot'ation of the handle 36serves to turn the rollback -41 from theposition shownin 5to that shown in Fig. '6, in which position the'arcuatesurfa'ceM stands overthe lower of the-two 1ugs29 and thus" dogsthe latch against movement by'the outside knob as'it prevents thelifting of 'the'l-at'ch about the pivot"2'2. It will benoted that, as'shown in Fig. 2, Whenthe' rollback is moved in this'direction, thelugdfi ciears 'thehooked end It of the'esc'ape- 'backis notlimited inthis direction by the escapement member. Likewise; the lower shoulder.43, asshownin this "figure, does not engage with the lower of the lugs,29 but, in this position of the parts, passes this lug. Also, as shownin Fig. 6,

the stud .53 is engaged by the curved portion :5] of the spring 54 andthe rollback and inner knob .releasably held against accidentaldisplacement, with the inner handle vertically disposed so that a'usermayinstantly tell that the door is locked or the latch dogged againstmovement.

If it is desired to mount the latch one door of the other hand, theflock case is simply inverted or turned through an angle of about ,ahorizontal so that the parts will be moved from the position showntin-Fig. 1 2 to that shown Fig. 9. It will'behoted that the latchmember.23 thereupon drops to the opposite end;.of the slot 2;? and alsotheescapement member 49 drops about its pivot 55 to the position shown'inFig.;9. That is to say, the escapement member drops by gravity when thelock case is inverted so thatin the position shown in Fig. 9 theopposite hooked .end 38 will be contacted by the lug 46 to limit themovement :of the rollback. With the latch member 23 and the esca-pementmember :49 in the positions shownin Fig. 9, the operationof the insidehandle will b exactly as previously described except that the rollback49 will contact the other of the two lugs 29 to lift the latch, due tothe fact that therrollback and latch .member are-both symmetricalwithrespect to center lines drawn through their pivots and due to thefactthat the latch member occupies a difierent :positionofrestwhenthe-mechanism is inverted fora door of the other hand. That is tosay, in :one case one of the surfaces 43-:contacts with IOIlGOf the lugszto lift the latch while in the other position :as 'used with a door ofthe other hand, the other surface "4.3 will engage the other lug .29to'lift the :latch, which other lug is brought into rangebof movement ofthe surface 43 .by'the movement of the latch, when inverted, from oneend to theotherof the slot v21'].

When inverting'the mechanism for use with ado'or of theother banditisnecessary to change the position of the rollback 65. This is done bysliding the spindle t5 outwardly from the hub 35 oftlie inner handle toa slight extent and rotating this spindle until the end 61 of therollback stands upon'the other side 'of the-stud 3t. Thiswill bring thecam surface 68inchgagement with the other of the twolugs "28 whenthestud sil'is at-the other end of the slot3-l from thatshown'in-Fig.4,-asitwill bewhe'n the latch isinverted. Thisslight change in'theposition of "the rollback 66' is'theonlyalteration' necessary to changethe latch *from use upon adefthand ".stood' that'it is not to be limitedto all of the details shown but is capable .ofmodification and variationwithin the spirit oftheinv enton and within'the scope of theappendedclaims.

What Iclaim'is": p

1; Aldoor latch meuiams comprising g2, -.case,

a latch member pivotally mounted in the case to swing about a horizontalaxis and projecting from the case for engagement with a keeper, a latchactuating element carried by-thecase, said element being movable in onedirection-to swing the latch member upwardly and movable in-the oppositedirection to dog the latch member against movement, and a handleconnected to said element to operate the latter, and means releasablyholding said handle in a horizontal position when the latch member isengaged with the keeper and in a vertical position when the latchisdogged against movement. r

2. A door latch mechanism comprising a case,

alatch member pivotally mounted in the case to swing about a horizontalaxis and projecting from the casefor engagement with a keeper, a

' latch member is engaged with the keeper and in a vertical positionwhen the latch is dogged against movement.

3. A door latch mechanism comprising a case, a latch member pivotallymounted in the case and'projecting therefrom to engage a keeper, a latchactuating element rotatably mounted in the case to swing about an axiseccentric to the pivot of said latch member, a lug on said member, saidelement having a part engaging below said lug when said'element is movedto lift the latch, and means to limit movement of said element to holdsaid part in engagement with said lug.

4. A door latch mechanism comprising a case, alatch member pivotallymounted in the case and projecting through an elongated opening in thecase to engage a keeper, a latch actuating element rotatably mounted inthe case to swing about an axis eccentric to the pivot of said latchmember, a pair of lugs on the latch member between which said element isdisposed, said latch member lying adjacent one end of said opening inone osition of the case and adjacent the other end of the opening whenthe case is turned through an angle of 180, and said element when saidlatch member is in one of said positions being adapted when rotated inone direction to engage one of said lugs and move the latch member andwhen rotated in the other direction being adapted to engage the otherlug and dog the latch member against movement and when said latch memberis in the other position to engage said second lug to move the latchmember and engage said first lug to dog the latch member againstmovement.

5. A door latch mechanism comprising a case, a latch member pivotallymounted in the case and projecting therefrom to engage a keeper, a

latch actuating element rotatably mounted in the case to swing about anaxis eccentric to the pivot of said latch member, a pair of lugs on saidlatch member between which said element is disposed, said element havingspaced shoulders to engage one of said lugs to lift the latch memberwhen the mechanism is mounted in one position on a door and beingadapted to engage the other of said lugs to lift the latch memberwhenlthe mechanism is turned through an angle .of 180? about I ahorizontal axis, and means rotatably mounted inlthe case to engage andto limit movement of :said element in a direction'tolift the latch mem-,ber..

6. A door latch mechanism comprising a case, a latch member pivotallymounted in the ,caseand projecting therefrom to engage a keeper, alatchactuating element rotatably mounted in the case to swing about an axiseccentric to the pivot of said latch member, a pair of lugs on saidlatch member between which said element is disposed, said element havingspaced shoulders to engage oneof said lugs to liit the latch member whenthe mechanismis mounted in one position on a door and being adapted toengage the other of said lugs to lift the latch member when themechanism is turned through an angle of about a horizontal axis, andmeans having, spaced stops thereon to engage andto limit movement ofsa delement in ,a direction to lift the latch member, said means beingmovably mounted in the case to shirt this position when the mechanism isinverted to limit movement of the element in the opposite direction tolift the latch member.

7. A door latch mechanism comprising a case, a latch member pivotallymounted in the case and prolecting thei'eirom to engage a keeper, alatch actuating element rotatably mounted in the case to swing about anaxis eccentric to the pivot of said latch member, a pair of lugs on saidlatch member between which said element is disposed, said element havingspaced shoulders thereon to engage one of said lugs to hit the latchmember when the mechanism is mounted in one position on a door and beingadapted to engage the other of said lugs to lift the latch member whenthe mechanism is turned through an angle of 180 about a horizontal axis,an escapement member pivoted in the case having pro ecting ends, and oneof said ends being disposed in the path of .movement of a part OI S310.element when turned in one direction in either position 01' themechanism.

:5. A door latch mechanism comprising a case, a latch member pivotallymounted in the case and projecting therefrom to engage a keeper, a latchactuating element rotatably mounted in the case to swing about an axiseccentric to the pivot or said latch member, a pair or lugs on saidmember between which said element is disposed, said element when turnedin opposite directions being adapted to engage one of said lugs to hitthe latch and the other mg to dog the latch against movement, and aswinging stop member to limit movement or said element when lifting thelatch.

9. A dooi latch mechanism comprising a case, a latch member pivotallymounted in the case, a spindle rotatably mounted in the case, a handleat the outside of the door to operate said spindle, said latch memberhaving a pair of outwardly projecting lugs thereon at one side of saidspindle and an outwardly projecting stud at the other side of saidspindle, and a, rollback on said spindle having a part lying below andadapted to engage said stud and an opposite portion disposed betweensaid lugs.

10. A door latch comprising a case, a latch member pivoted thereinhaving a free end extending from the caseto engage a keeper, a latchactuating element rotatably carried by the case to move about anraxisdisposed between thepivot and the' free end of the latch member, saidlatch member having a pair of vertically spaced abut- ,ments thereonintermediate its ends, and said element being disposed between saidabutments and serving, when moved in one direction, to em gage one ofsaid abutments to actuate the latch and when moved in the otherdirection to engage the other of said abutments to dog the latch againstmovement.

11. A door latch comprising a case, a latch member pivoted thereinhaving a free end extending from the case to engage a keeper, a latchactuating element rotatably carried by the case to move about an axisdisposed between the pivot and the free end of the latch member, saidlatch member having a pair of vertically spaced abutments thereonintermediate its ends, and said element being disposed between saidabutments and serving, when moved in one direction, to engage oneoi-said abutments to actuate the latch and when moved in the otherdirection to engage the other of said abutments to dog the latch againstmovement, and an escapement member pivoted in the case to limit movementof said element when moved in a latch actuating direction.

12. A door latch comprising a case, a latch member pivoted thereinhaving a free end extending from the case to engage a keeper, a latchactuating element rotatably carried by the case to move about an axisdisposed between the pivot and the free end of the latch member, saidlatch member having a pair of vertically spaced abutments thereonintermediate its ends, said element being disposed between saidabutments and servso an angle of 180 about a horizontal axis to limitmovement of the latch actuating element when turned in the oppositedirection.

13. A door latch comprising a case, a latch member pivoted thereinhaving a free end extending from the case to engage a keeper, a latchactuating element rotatably carried by the case to move about an axisdisposed between the pivot and the free end of the latch member, saidlatch member having a pair of vertically spaced abutments thereonintermediate its ends, and said element being disposed between saidabutments and serving, when moved in one direction, to engage one ofsaid abutments to actuate the latch and when moved in the otherdirection to engage the other of said abutments to dog the latch againstmovement, said abutments being symmetrically disposed on said latchmember, and means normally supporting said member in an inclinedposition.

HERMAN BLOSS.

